How to become a closer reader

What does it mean to read a book closely?

In this closely reading series, you’ll learn how to:

explore and define your personal analytical style (as in: how you think about what you read and how to discuss it with other readers)
develop and define your reading aesthetic (as in: how you experience close reading as an embodied being and how to set yourself up for reading success)
brainstorm new ideas for your reading habits and goals (as in: how consciously you engage with your reading process and how to do it more often)
write about your closely reading methods (as in: how you reflect on your ideas while reading and finding the confidence to share your writing)

Start here

Get the basic intro to the series, then dive into each week’s exercises and prompts to get going. You’ll get the most benefit from going in chronological order, but you can certainly mix things up and browse all the exercises before deciding where to start.

week 1: what is reading?

week 2: where do you read?

week 3: what is literary analysis?

week 4: what do you notice?

week 5: what are your goals?

week 6: creating a goal list

week 7: defining your annotation style

week 8: finding what feels good

This series is available to paid subscribers of Closely Reading. All tiers below unlock the full series, and are designed to work as a “pay what you can” model that works for your budget. 📖

💌 $15 per year
☕️ $25 per year
🌟 $50 per year
🥳 $100 per year (become a founding member)

We’re inundated with notifications and noises and algorithms designed to direct our attention away from ourselves and into the consumer experience. But closely reading a book trains your mind to pay attention to the still, silent pages of stories—to focus all of your energy and your intent toward engaging with literature.

It takes a lot to learn how to do it, from how to become physically comfortable with the focused silence of deep reading sessions to how to grapple with enormous ideas in a way that feels accessible and true to you. This series covers all of that and more.